Green Caps Programme

To conserve bonobos through development in the Democratic Republic of Congo

Like
Awely Red Caps, Green Caps come from local populations. If both models appear
identical, Green Caps do not deal with human–wildlife conflicts.

Our Green Caps intervene in regions where
human activities pose a serious threat to the biodiversity and endanger at
least one emblematic animal species. Since early 2008, we have developed a
Green Cap programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where we are working to
improve the situation for the bonobos (Pan paniscus) and
villagers sharing the same environment.

Whereas our Red Caps deal with the origins
and consequences of conflicts, our Green Caps help us to better understand the
situations concerning hunting and animal protein consumption, and to better define
the socio-economic context of the targeted zone. In our opinion, it is
impossible to find solutions to complex problems without a thorough
investigation of the origins, the motivating factors and all the other
parameters. Our coordinators in the Congo devote a great deal of time, often in
the heart of the forest, to meetings with the target groups: these are the
people whose activities directly or indirectly contribute to the decline of the
species we are trying to protect. The most delicate task is then to persuade
the villagers, who are mostly very poor, that their activities, sometimes
ancestral, directly threaten the resources that will be needed by their own
children.

Sharing more than 99% of our genetic heritage, our
nearest cousins today face a worrying situation. Like all the other animals of
the forest, their meat constitutes an appreciable source of protein.
Unfortunately, being bushmeat is not the only threat they face. The forest,
their very habitat, continues to be cut on a large scale.

So to correctly evaluate the situation and to propose
solutions best adapted over the long-term, our Green Caps – Thaulin Efofo and
Geneviève Eyau, recently replaced by John Bolola and Marthe Mpafomba –
questioned more than 160 hunters in the south of the Basankusu community, in
the territory of Equateur where we have installed our office.

These questionnaires aimed to identify hunting
territories, methods of hunting, most-hunted species and the situation of
bonobos within this activity. Among the collected data, we have found that:

95% of the hunters use cables to capture
the animals; 77% use shotguns, mostly rudimentary.

90% of the hunters have already seen bonobos
in the forest, and 80% have hunted them. Some hunters even specialise in bonobo
hunting and can kill more than ten apes in a single campaign.

The family eats part of the bonobo meat, the
rest is sold. The bushmeat price is equivalent to that of wild boar or
antelope, although these species are much more available.

All the hunters admit that bonobo meat is
difficult to sell and the majority of them know that the law forbids hunting
and trade of bonobos.

30% of the hunters admit that they have sold baby bonobo meat or sold
living animals.

A great majority of them show an interest in
learning alternative activities such as animal breeding.

Similar surveys were devoted to women who are bushmeat
traders (more than 45 of them have been interviewed), but also local
authorities such as group leaders and village chiefs have been questioned. This
allows us to better define the socio-economic situation within our action area,
which is today larger than 14 000 km².

Our work is a long-term task. Target groups are
distributed over a vast territory and in regions where access is often
difficult. Moreover, intense efforts are necessary to earn their confidence.
Today, our efforts have been rewarded. Target groups have understood that our
intentions were to improve their situation, as well as the situation of the
bonobos. Therefore, with the help of the Centre for Agricultural Development of
Basankusu, and the recent employment of a local agronomist, we have proposed
and intensified training in animal breeding in some concerned regions, with the
groups most ready for this. Group meetings are a necessary part of our programme. Our help is never a
gift. We prefer to negotiate loans. This is a way to guarantee the cohesion of
the group and the respect for internal investing.

Many
hunters who decided to participate in our proposed training sessions have declared
that they stopped hunting, selling or eating bonobo meat. A formal engagement
is made by signing a card as Bonobo Ambassador, and more than 500 hunters now
wear this card around their necks. We are intensifying our work in the forests of Ikela
and Lofale, two of the main habitats of bonobos in the heart of our project
area. We recently have enlarged our team with two new Green Caps in the
Mbandaka region. This
city, capital of the county of Equateur, is one of the main nerve centres of
animal traffic in central Africa, particularly for ivory and bushmeat.

Moreover, our educational
activities are developing well. We have just completed the final
creative touches to our 36-pages educational booklet to further this programme.
It presents the scope of local biodiversity: the forest, its
advantages and the dangers it faces; its role in climate regulation;
sustainable development and activities that will satisfy the needs of the
present generation without endangering those to follow, of course including
future generations of bonobos. This booklet is presented in both French and
Lingala, with some 5000 copies to be printed in Kinshasa, and it will be
largely distributed in our project zone, especially to the children.

Further, we are currently
launching our puppet theatre. Thanks to
our two local actors, thousands of people even deep in the forest or far on the
rivers will discover our play on the bonobos, the forest and the sustainable
development.

WAZA Conservation Project 07004 is implemented
by Awely and supported by Bonobo, Twycross Zoo, Eco-Sys
action. Parken Zoo is punctually supporting our Puppet Show. Leipzig Zoo and Le
Zoo de La Palmyre are supporting the printing costs of our educational booklet.
Awely is looking for additional partners for the production of this booklet.